Megan Lee Beals works in a bookstore by day, and on her writing by night. In the hours that belong to neither category, she knits vintage color-work patterns into sweaters and hats. She’s hoping to find time in between all that to learn sword-making, particularly swords forged from the blood of dragons. Megan lives in Tacoma, Washington with her husband and a one-eyed cat. Her fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and the Toasted Cake podcast. Visit her at her website!

Bells chimed in the empty storefront that waited for us at the top of the stairs. The boss closed her eyes and tilted her head to assess their tone.

I shrugged over the collection of banshee skulls I was cleaning for a future wind-chime. “Cool.” I was her subordinate, and the fantasy upstairs would need a young apprentice to cast aside before she could make a grand entrance as some wizened old shopkeeper.